Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
Hi everyone,
So a few days ago I was going through my photography stuff in order to get ready for an upcoming shoot.  I then realized that my cheap lens was missing.  After beating my brain in, I realized that I might have left it at a model's place during a recent shoot.  Anyway, I called him up to ask him if he had seen it and he told me he would look.  Days went by and I didn't hear from him so I figured, whatever, it cost like $50 bucks, screw it.  Anyway, today he called me to let me know he found it.  I didn't leave it in his house though, I left it outside in the backyard on a table.  Well for the past two days it has been raining so I doubt it will work properly.  So my questions are:

1. Has this ever happened to you?  The front and back caps were on it but I doubt that when I get it back tomorrow it will still work

2.  Does you lens still work?

3.  If this has or hasn't happened to you, would it be a smart idea to attach it to my camera after checking it out or should I just throw it out?

Let me know!

Let us know if it survived!

I don't think it would be any good, especially since water probably got inside the elements where some corrosion is likely to occur. Or maybe there will be some water spots inside, I don't know

If you do put it on the camera, make sure it is completely dry inside and clean the contacts first.

If you only paid $50, might as well try to find another one like it.

EDIT: What was the lens?

Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
1. Has this ever happened to you?

No.

Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
3.  If this has or hasn't happened to you, would it be a smart idea to attach it to my camera after checking it out or should I just throw it out?

Let me know!

Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
whatever, it cost like $50 bucks, screw it.

CHAD ALAN wrote:
make sure it is completely dry inside and clean the contacts first.

+1
Sure so during the disassemble of the lens, you could learn a new skill (1).
Also, if you have a second body, you could use it, for futher security.

For the rest I doubt that the phenomenon of corrosion is detectable after only two days of fresh water.

1) Make these experiments have sense everytime the costs of repairs are totally unreasonable (as a new lens) on the occasions where the cost asked is equivalent at the cost for an identical used lens.

alessandro2009 wrote:
For the rest I doubt that the phenomenon of corrosion is detectable after only two days of fresh water.

Have you seen our rain?

jk,

Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
1. Has this ever happened to you?  The front and back caps were on it but I doubt that when I get it back tomorrow it will still work

yes - Nikon 55-200, neither front nor back cap

Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
2.  Does you lens still work?

yes - no apparent harm, possibly because it was lying horizontal

Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
Ok so I just got it back.  It's a 28mm to 80mm Canon lens.  Anyway, the model kept it in his house for a day or so, obviously, so when I got it it looked dry to me.  I came home, looked at it some more without opening it.  I even shook it to see if i could hear water or water leaked out but nothing.  It looked fine.  So I made sure to dry the connection side, stuck it on my camera while the lens was on automatic focus and it started doing it's thing as soon as i turned the camera on and pointed it at something.  It looks like it's fine but I'm still going to leave it alone for a few more days and then test it out just to make sure.

Good news!

CHAD ALAN wrote:

Good news!

Yeah well let's hope it stays that way.  I'm really surprised that when I took off both caps I didn't see any water inside.  I mean, it was raining really hard for two days.  I guess I lucked out this time.  I need to be more careful with my stuff lol.

Yajhil Alvarez wrote:
It looks like it's fine but I'm still going to leave it alone for a few more days and then test it out just to make sure.

If you want to be doubly sure, you could put it in a sealed container with a few ounces of silica gel inside it.  The idea is to dry out the atmosphere in the container so that any traces of water inside the lens evaporate and are absorbed by the silica gel

I use silica gel that has a dye in it - bright blue when it is dry, pink when it has taken up water.  You can microwave it to turn pink back to blue.

Rob Photosby wrote:

If you want to be doubly sure, you could put it in a sealed container with a few ounces of silica gel inside it.  The idea is to dry out the atmosphere in the container so that any traces of water inside the lens evaporate and are absorbed by the silica gel

I use silica gel that has a dye in it - bright blue when it is dry, pink when it has taken up water.  You can microwave it to turn pink back to blue.

Or do as us Asians do and toss it in with rice, then once the lens dries you got dinner!